62% reduction in parts usage39% decrease in repeat visits
For more than 30 years, 3D Systems has developed and delivered cutting-edge 3D printers. Recently, its customers have evolved from using 3D printing technology primarily for prototyping towards developing manufactured products for end users. As a result, providing exceptional service became even more critical.
"We had to dramatically change our services organization to keep pace with our customer's need for much quicker response time,” said Mark Hessinger, VP of Global Customer Services at 3D Systems.
Mark sought a technology partner to achieve three main goals:
3D Systems turned to Aquant’s service intelligence platform to deliver data-driven insights to its service team, empowering them to perform better and solve issues faster.
During the implementation process, which took only a few weeks, Aquant’s machine learning algorithms cleansed and categorized data stored in Workforce Management solutions, CRM and ERP/Part Management systems. Aquant’s product even uncovered insights that lay unused in free text notes from technicians and contact center agents. Aquant’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) engine automatically mapped different phrases customers and technicians used to describe the same problems and solutions.
Then, 3D Systems’ best engineers spent a few hours contributing their expertise, wisdom and intuition to enrich the data. The result is a dynamic and growing database of knowledge that helps new employees get up to speed faster, and empowers seasoned pros to work even more efficiently.
3D Systems’ customer-facing agents are troubleshooting customer calls with Aquant’s Intelligent Triage product, powered by data-driven insights. When customers call with challenges, agents simply type their symptoms into their user interface, ask the customer a few automatically generated questions, and recommend a resolution based on the product’s predictions. Now, basic issues can be resolved remotely, without the help of a specialist. And with years' worth of history now at their fingertips, junior techs and agents are performing at the level of experts.
Previously, 3D Systems customer issues were often troubleshooted with the most expensive parts. Now, service pros can accurately identify the source of the problem before a tech even arrives on site. Dispatch is able to send the right tech with the right skills and parts into the field, lowering the total cost of service.
As a result of implementing Aquant, 3D Systems has seen a 62% reduction in parts usage and a 39% decrease in repeat visits, driving significant cost savings.
“Working with Aquant has helped us make dramatic improvements to how quickly and accurately we resolve service tickets,” said Mark. “We’re looking forward to expanding our Aquant implementation across our partner ecosystem.”